Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pneumatic tire that may exhibit excellent noise performance and better traction on snow.
Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Unexamined Application Publication 02-283507 discloses a pneumatic tire that comprises a tread portion provided with a plurality of tread blocks separated by circumferentially and continuously extending main grooves and a plurality of lateral grooves. Such a pneumatic tire having a plurality of tread blocks may enhance traction on snowy roads by shearing compressed snow in the lateral grooves. These days, the lateral grooves of tires tend to be designed to have a larger groove volume to further enhance traction on snow.
The tire having lateral grooves with a larger groove volume, however, tends to generate large air-pumping noise during traveling because the air is trapped and compressed in the lateral grooves between the tread portion and pavement. Furthermore, pipe resonance noise generated in the main grooves during traveling tends to leak outside of the tire through the lateral groove with a larger groove volume.